Opposites Attract
by Dead Dahlia
Summary: Daryl grew up poor in the back country of Georgia, while Claire was raised in a political family of privilege. In the old world, they never would have looked twice at each other - they just came from two different worlds. But they would soon come to not only rely on each other, but find they cannot live without each other. *** POSTPONED until TBD ***


** I think a lot of Walking Dead fans are waiting to see if (or when) Daryl will get a love interest on the show. During the last few seasons Daryl has made a complete transformation, and has become one of the most valuable and respected members of the group. I think it would be great to see him paired with a woman that would have been "out of his league" in the world before the ZA.

Don't worry, Claire isn't just some beautiful rich chick; she's got A LOT more to her; she's actually a skilled hunter, a sharp shooter, and she has really been through a lot in her life. Claire is definitely a tough chick - inside and out.

Promise I didn't pair Daryl up with some prissy chick; she definitely will prove to be a really good match for him ;)

Takes place during Season 1. Daryl has just returned from Atlanta with Rick and the group, after having discovered Merle was gone and all that was left on that rooftop of his brother was his sawed off hand!

**Daryl/OC pairing. RATED T for language and sexual content in some of the chapters.** **Enjoy!**

**CHAPTER ONE**

It was hot that day, but Daryl had bigger things on his mind. He had just left Rick and the group at the rock quarry, after making the decision to leave after returning from Atlanta without Merle. Even though Rick and the others apologized for leaving Merle handcuffed to the rooftop and they even went back on a rescue mission to look for him, it didn't matter much too Daryl – in the end … Merle wasn't there and Daryl was alone.

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As he packed his things on his bike, he kept thinking to himself 'If anyone could survive sawing off his own damn hand it would be Merle. My brother was the toughest son of a bitch I ever met. But, even if he made it off that rooftop, a wound like that would be a death sentence - even if he managed to make it out of the city.'

Daryl went through Merles bag and found a bag of drugs. "Damn, Merle." Daryl looking through all of the pockets of the bag and could see bottles, baggies, filled with all kinds of stuff. Merle had been basically carrying around a pharmacy of legal and illegal drugs in one of his bags. He had always known his brother was into drugs. Some of Daryl's earliest memories of his brother were when he got busted smoking pot when he was just nine years old.

"Couldn't hurt to take these along, I guess" Daryl mused to himself. "You never know when these things could come in handy. Might need 'em, or maybe I could use 'em to trade for something'? You never know."

While Daryl was packing and going through all of his and Merle's stuff, Rick, Lori, Dale, Andrea, Glenn and Carol each tried their best at trying to get him to stay. He wasn't really sure why they cared if he stayed or left and he didn't really care. So, he gave them all the same answer, "I gotta go look for my brother. He might be out there somewhere, and I gotta at least_ try_ to look for him." Everyone seemed to understand, especially Andrea, since her sister had died the night before; bit by a walker.

"If my sister was out there somewhere, injured … and alone; I'd go look for her too, Daryl. We don't have much left in this world. Really … I think family's all we got left." She hugged Daryl and wished him luck on finding his brother.

The only one in the group that didn't seem too disappointed to learn that Daryl was leaving was Shane. Shane and Merle had butted heads a couple of times; in fact, Daryl had to break a fight between the two of them just a week back. Merle didn't really ever filter his thoughts, so when Merle got drunk, he often said exactly what was on his mind. And, he definitely could be a real ass if he had really tied one on.

That night, specifically, Merle drank almost a half bottle of Jack Daniel's to himself. Started off by making some off color remarks; then telling everyone how the weak seemed to just be gettin' picked off one by one. "Probably not a one of ya in the group here gonna be alive within the month!" Then, Merle started fuckin' around with a knife and waving it around. That's when Shane lost and just bum rushed Merle, tackling him to the ground. A few punches were thrown before they got broken up; left Merle with a bloody nose and Shane with a cut over his eye. Nothin' that serious, but definitely added to the tension between Daryl, Merle, Shane and the rest of the group.

Needless to say, Daryl wasn't all that surprised when Shane stood back and watched this "redneck" pack his bags to leave. And, he knew Shane certainly wasn't all that broken up about learning about Merle getting left in the city. He had actually been one of the most vocal in expressing his disapproval of going back into the city to rescue Merle, calling it 'suicide mission for a dead man.' When he had said that, Daryl almost lost it; he had to be held back by Glenn and a few of the other guys.

Daryl initially planned to go back by himself and look for Merle, but the new guy Rick offered to go back with him to rescue Merle. And, although Daryl was pissed off at Rick for handcuffing his brother and leaving him there in the first place, he had at least tried to make it right. He knew Rick couldn't have anticipated just finding Merle's hand on that rooftop. Didn't make him feel any better about how he had been left there, and was forced to cut himself free by cutting off his own hand.

But, Daryl also knew how his brother could be … and knew Rick, Glenn, T-Dog and Andrea were probably tellin' the truth when they said that Merle went off the reservation and was trying to pull some shit with Rick on that rooftop. "He's a fuckin' cop!" he thought to himself. Merle had been in and out of jail since he was a kid, so it didn't surprise him at all that Merle and Rick didn't get off on the right foot. At least this cop had tried. Now his cop friend, Shane, on the other hand, Daryl thought was real dick.

Besides being confrontational with him and Merle since day one, Daryl knew there was just something off with this guy. He was supposed to Rick's best friend or something, but Daryl had caught Shane fuckin' Lori out in the woods just two days before Rick came back to the camp from Atlanta. He had been out hunting for food and stumbled upon them. He never said nothin' to either of them about what he saw; didn't see the point. However, when Rick returned to camp, everyone was real confused. See, Lori had told everyone that her husband had died. Shane had gone to the hospital but Rick was already dead, so he packed up Lori and Carl and got them out of town. So, Shane lied. And, everyone knew it. Thing is, Daryl was the only one who knew why. Shane lied to Lori, so she would leave with him and get the girl for himself. "Some fuckin' friend he is. Need a friend like him, like I need a hole in the head" Daryl thought to himself.

What really irked Daryl the most was that most of these people had just seen himself and Merle as just some dumb hicks or just a bunch of "tweaker hillbillies" as Shane had dubbed them. Daryl had never really gotten into drugs like Merle, so he definitely didn't appreciate being looked at like one. But, he was used to being looked down; that was a familiar feeling for sure. Daryl and Merle just weren't worth saving to these people.

It was better this way, he thought to himself. If Merle was alive, Daryl needed to travel light. And, no matter how they justified it, Daryl just couldn't get past what had happened; at least for now.

Rick sensed that Daryl was conflicted about the decision to leave so he pulled him aside and told him where the group had planned to go next …The CDC - Center for Disease Control. After that, he said they might head to Fort Benning. As Daryl straddled his bike, Rick handed him a walkie-talkie.

"We'll be on frequency 8, just in case you change your mind."

"Thanks, man. Don't know if I'll be needin this. But, thanks."

Rick then tipped his sheriff's hat to Daryl as the others waved goodbye from the campsite. Daryl nodded quickly as to say goodbye and drove off.

As Daryl drove down the highway he passed by cars and overturned trucks. He slowly maneuvered through the debris, and could smell the stink of rotting corpses and see the decaying bodies as he past by. He couldn't help but think … what If Merle had gotten attacked? What if Merle turned into one of those walkers?

"Damn, wouldn't that just be my luck. Even if Merle made it out of the city, he could have been taken out by one of these walkers out here. Or, worse, he could be one himself." Daryl mused to himself on the irony of it all. He really might be looking for a dead man, or even a walking dead man.

Either way, he knew for certain … that he just couldn't stay with that group any longer. "Just don't feel right no more," he thought to himself. He held them partially responsible for the loss of his brother. And, if there was any chance of finding Merle, Daryl knew he couldn't count on this group to help look for him anymore. He'd have to head out on the road by himself to look for Merle; maybe even look for a new group. First things first - he just needed a place to rest his head for right now. He'd think about the hard stuff tomorrow.

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Daryl had spent about a half hour on the road, keeping an eye out for a place to stay, for supplies and of course keepin' his eyes open looking for walkers. He knew he had taken plenty of supplies and weapons when he left the camp, Rick had even sent him off with handgun and rifle from the bag of guns they picked up in Atlanta. In his mind he was pretty set up on supplies and ammo right now, but when he passed a sign that read "Dick's Guns & Ammo," he figured he better at least check it out and see if he could pick up a few extra supplies. It probably had been looted, but you never know what your gonna find and you never know the next time you will have the opportunity to pick a few things up.

"Never can have enough arrows these days," he thought to himself.

So, Daryl turned his bike around at the next intersection, and headed back towards the store.

As he approached the store, he could see it had been abandoned. Actually, the front windows hand been boarded up pretty good, he thought. As he got closer, he decided he would drive his motorcycle to the side of the building. He figured there was no need to be parking right out front of anything these days; don't want to be attracting any kind of attention –alive or dead. As he drove past the front of the store, he could see the front windows had not only been boarded up but also had metal grates over them. He did, however, notice that the front door was a little ajar; not fully closed.

"Least I'll be able to get into this place without too much of a fuss," he thought aloud.

He drove his bike up to the side of "Dick's Guns & Ammo," and parked his bike. He immediately pulled his crossbow front its holster and loaded an arrow. He walked quietly and slowly up to the front door and peered inside the best he could. The store wasn't all that big, more deep and narrow. At first glance, Daryl thought that it was empty of people and walkers, but as he looked around … he realized that it was only empty of people and walkers – it was also seemed to be fairly picked clean. On the right hand side of the wall, he could see the shelving and racks where guns and ammo would have been stashed. It looked to him that there might be some boxes with rounds of ammunition still scattered about the broken shelves and cases.

Then, glanced towards the back of the store; no walkers and there appeared to be a case that still looked to have a selection of hunting knives. The glass had been broken through, but he could see there were still some choice knives left. However, to Daryl's surprise, above the broken case was the Holy Grail …

Daryl clearly recognized two of his favorite crossbows – the Horton Scout HD 125 and the Stryker Strykezone 380. And, plenty of crossbow packs too!

"Crossbows … what're the odds that?" he thought. "Guess this place hadn't been cleared out yet. Either that, or just not too many people thought to take the crossbows when cleaning this place out."

Daryl and Merle had hit up several gun and ammo stores went everything went to shit. The first two weeks after the Walkers first appeared, Merle even broke into a couple of 'em, and they even walked out of Walmart with two rifles and a couple of boxes of ammo before gettin' shot at by some other hillbillies. So, finding this place was like findin' a needle in a haystack. Daryl had to at least grab a few items, and then he would hit the road.

Before walking in, he pried the front door open just a little wider, so he could see all the way around the store. The place looked clear, so Daryl walked through the doorway and into the front part of the store. It did appear to be empty – no people and no walkers. So, he lowered his crossbow and walked towards the back of the store with his eyes on those crossbows.

Then, he heard it … a 'click,' the cocking of a gun right behind his head.

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"Damn!" Daryl whispered to himself.

"Listen, man … I…I'm not lookin' for any trouble here." Daryl spoke to the unseen assailant.

Then, he heard something he didn't expect … a woman's voice!

"Yeah, I highly doubt that, mister! You'd say that whether you were looking for trouble or not. Now, drop that there crossbow you got in your hands and turn round slowly."

Daryl began to try and talk his way out of letting go of the crossbow. "I'm just gonna holster this right here and right now. Like I said … not looking for any trouble. I'll be on my way now."

"Alright, go ahead and holster that crossbow. Then, keep yer hands in the air where I can see 'em."

Daryl raised his hands and shook his head. He wondered how he had gotten himself into this situation. It wasn't like him to not check every corner. He really hadn't been himself, and that kind of carelessness might just have gotten him killed.

"Alright, miss. I'm gonna turn around now."

Daryl turned around and saw something; something he _really _didn't like and it wasn't the barrel of the gun that was pointed at him. Before the woman could say another word, Daryl reached out to grab the woman's gun and pulled it to the side. She got off a round, which burned his hand. But with the other hand, he reached for his crossbow; put his finger on the trigger and fired. The arrow passed right by the woman's face and through the loose strands of hair that flowed out from her messy braided hair.

Before he could get in another word, the woman had the gun aimed right for him.

"What the hell was that? Not too smart, mister. You missed!"

Daryl laughed a little at how ridiculous she was being. If he had wanted to shoot her … he wouldn't have missed.

"Listen, sweetheart … I didn't miss. If I had wanted to shoot you; you wouldn't be here still talking to me – you'd be dead! Look, I didn't mean to scare you, it's just …"

"What the hell you mean you didn't miss?"

The woman cocked her head to the side and just looked at Daryl. She really didn't know what to make of him.

"Well, look behind you"

She turned and quickly glanced out towards where the arrow was shot. She could see that just about 20 feet behind her was a walker with an arrow sticking out the back of its head. Probably wandered towards the store from the main road and this guy just took the shot to save them both. Then she noticed that it looked like the arrow went straight through the center of the walker's skull, which takes an awful lot of skill, she thought.

"Nice shot!"

"Thanks" Daryl lowered his head a bit, and brushed his hand through his hair. "I don't' mean you any harm. If I did, I certainly wouldn't have saved you from that walker, now would I?"

"You've got a point there …"

"Hey, darlin'… I don't want to be rude or anything, but can you point that gun somewhere else?"

"Yeah, I suppose I could. So, what're you doin' here anyways? Can't you see the stores been pretty much picked clean?" She paused and looked around the shop.

"Actually, I got my eye on those two crossbows back there. Thinkin' I might grab those and the rest of those arrows …

… That is, if you don't mind?"

"Sure. Why not?" She then stretched out her hand to shake Daryl's, "I'm Claire. What's your name?"

"Daryl."

Daryl shook her hand softly, but then pulled it back quickly. "Damn! Think I burned my hand."

"Yeah, well, that's what happens when you grab the barrel of a gun and it goes off. Didn't anyone ever tell you that?"

"Of course I knew that! But, what'd you want me to do? Just let the walker wander on in … and maybe do some gun and crossbow shopping with us?"

Daryl and Claire both laughed a bit at the thought of it. It was really kind of ridiculous to think of one of those things walking in to do some quick shopping. Ironic thing was … the man Daryl shot down was actually sheriff of this small town. He wasn't dressed in his uniform, but she recognized those stupid red alligator boots anywhere.

"Well, Daryl, it's nice to meet you. It's been a while since I've seen anyone around these parts … well, at least no one living that is." She smiled a little at the thought of what how she never thought those words would ever come out of her mouth.

"You from round here?" Daryl inquired.

"Yeah, my family's originally from a town just a little ways up the road, so I'm familiar with the place. And, you? Where are you from? Got any kin up out in these parts?"

"Nah … I'm not from around here. Just left a rock quarry where me, my brother a group of people been camping out the last few weeks. Got overrun with walkers the other night, so I decided to split."

"Wow, how many other people? I've been wondering how people have been getting on these days, how many people, you know … survived."

"I guess there were about 30 of us. Just kind of found each other you could say, and been traveling with each other the last month or so."

Daryl started to walk back towards the crossbow section, and Claire followed along side him.

"Must be nice."

"Yeah, well, we lost some people last night."

"Oh, I'm sorry to hear that."

"Thanks, but I didn't really know them all too well. But, that's the reason I took off on my own."

"On your own? Thought you said you were there with your brother?"

They stopped in front of the broken showcase that had a few hunting knives left that Daryl had been eyeing earlier. He looked down into the case, and grabbed for one of the smaller utility knives and then for a larger hunting knife.

"Yeah, well…I was. He's gone now. Dead I think."

"Did he get bit?" She stopped herself from talking anymore. "I'm so sorry. I just … I'm sorry." She felt embarrassed for prying. Poor guy just lost his brother.

"Well … actually, that's kind of a complicated story … but, uhh … he's gone now and I'm pretty sure he's dead."

Claire looked at Daryl and she could see his eyes starting to water up a bit. She felt horrible bringing that up with him. She knew everyone these days had lost people, but it still didn't make it hurt any less when it did happen. Daryl just kind of stared down at the knives in his hands, and then looked up at Claire. He seemed like he was hurting, and she thought he looked like he could use a friend right about then. Hell, she knew she could too! It had been so long since she talked to anyone or even seen anyone alive. Claire had been avoiding both the living and the dead for the last coupe of months, and after talking with Daryl just for a few minutes, she realized just how alone and lonely she had been. So, Claire decided to tell him a little about herself and then maybe see if she could find a little more about this guy.

"I haven't seen my family since the initial outbreak. They were all in New York City, when it got overrun and I barely made it out of Atlanta before the government started to bomb the city streets. So … I don't know if they made it out of Manhattan; don't know if their alive or dead." She lowered her head a bit, and Daryl caught a tear falling down her cheek. She had tried to hide it, but he could tell she was upset.

"Sorry to hear about that …

…. Guess everyone's got a complicated story these days."

Claire laughed a bit, she could tell he was trying to comfort her now, "We sure do, don't we?" Daryl laughed a bit too. "Yeah, complicated … the dead walking around killing people - _very_ complicated."

**END CHAPTER ONE**

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Thanks so much for reading ... More Chapters are on their way!

If you've got the time, please comment and review ... I'd love to here what you all think so far :)


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